Contents
WEATHER WORKS
What is weather?
Land and sea
World climates
The seasons
WEATHER WATCHERS
The weather forecast
Meteorology is born
Temperature
World air pressure
Measuring from the ground
Measuring from the sky
Forecast
CLOUDS AND FOG
Clouds make weather
Naming the clouds
Cloud formation
Strange clouds
Fog and mist
RAIN
What is rain?
Rain records
Distressing flash floods
Coloured rain
See a rainbow
HAIL AND SNOW
Freezing rain
Ice storms
Hail—falling ice
Record hailstones
Unusual hail
Hail or ice block?
Snow
Ice Age
WIND AND STORMS
What is wind?
Prevailing winds
Measuring the wind
Hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones
Deadliest Atlantic hurricanes
Other notable hurricanes
Hurricane Katrina
Typhoons
Tornadoes
Dust devils
THUNDER AND LIGHTNING
The power of gods
Lightning formation
Ball lightning
LIFE, LANDSCAPES, AND WEATHER
Animal forecasters
Too hot
Too cold
Migration
Locust swarms
Plant forecasters
Weathering
THE ENERGY OF WEATHER
Wind turbines
Energy directly from the Sun
Ocean thermal energy conversion
GLOBAL WEATHER CHANGE
Climate change
Looking back
Urban heat islands
Ozone holes
Picture credits, Websites
About the Author